Queens Not-Crap

“Modern Pool for Public is Opening in Flushing”–i.e., 5 minutes by car from Forest Hills. Now we know what that building is, the one we always see on our left when we’re on the Van Wyck heading for Target.

Read all about it.

Endless February

Last night I lay awake pondering leap day. Yes, FoHi friends, we are now on Day 29 of February, which really isn’t something to celebrate. With its blasts of cold and otherwise depression-inducing weather, February is not exactly a month many of us are looking to prolong.

There’s one well-known custom for leap day: women can propose marriage to their beaus. Clearly this is a nonstarter for our purposes if you consider how many women already take the initiative (do they give him a ring?); same-sex couples; and that marriage itself is so last generation (regardless of the regrettable piece in this month’s Atlantic) .

So let’s forget about custom and instead focus on understanding how adding 1 day every 4 years keeps the world in order. (Note that I’m pulling from Wikipedia’s entry on this because this is not particularly subjective or hidden information.)

In the Gregorian calendar, the current standard calendar in most of the world, most years whose division by 4 equals an integer are leap years. In a leap year, the month of February has 29 days instead of 28. Adding an extra day to the calendar every four years compensates for the fact that a solar year is almost 6 hours longer than 365 days.

Easy enough, right? But the universe could never be as simple as shtupping 1 extra day into the calendar every 4 years—“almost 6 hours longer”—so here’s where Rule 2 comes in:

However, some exceptions to this rule are required since the duration of a solar year is slightly less than 365.25 days. Years which are evenly divisible by 100 are not leap years, unless they are also evenly divisible by 400, in which case they are leap years. For example, 1600 and 2000 were leap years, but 1700, 1800 and 1900 were not. Going forward, 2100, 2200, 2300, 2500, 2600, 2700, 2900, and 3000 will not be leap years, but 2400 and 2800 will be. By this rule, the average number of days per year will be 365 + 1/4 − 1/100 + 1/400 = 365.2425, which is 365 days, 5 hours, 49 minutes, and 12 seconds.

And here’s where the whole thing breaks down:

The Gregorian calendar was designed to keep the vernal equinox on or close to March 21, so that the date of Easter (celebrated on the Sunday after the 14th day of the Moon that falls on or after 21 March) remains correct with respect to the vernal equinox. The vernal equinox year is about 365.242374 days long (and increasing), whereas the average year length of the Gregorian calendar is 365.2425.

The marginal difference of 0.000125 days means that in around 8,000 years, the calendar will be about one day behind where it is now. But in 8,000 years, the length of the vernal equinox year will have changed by an amount which cannot be accurately predicted. Therefore, the current Gregorian calendar suffices for practical purposes, and Herschel’s correction (making 4000 AD not a leap year) will probably not be necessary.

The earth and my head are spinning. I’m just glad I won’t be around to see it. In February 8008, let’s face it: no one will want to marry me, regardless of how much I beg and plead and how much Botox I use.

Tierra Sana Is Cooking

This was recently posted on Craigslist. I thought TS had a cook… whatever, more power to them. And apparently their customers! It’s all about me, Me, ME! The only word that’s missing is “noninvasive.”

Seriously though, if their philosophy really plays out, this is going to be such an added value to the neighborhood.

Reply to: job-588670545@craigslist.org
Date: 2008-02-27, 12:16PM EST

We are looking for a cook that is a positive, well organized, high energy individual with a magnetic personality. Must be passionate about creating and serving the best in natural foods. We wish to engage our customers wherever they are in their journey to a healthy lifestyle. Additionally, our model engages our customers in a nutritional education process through the medium of great food and knowledgeable interaction with our team, in an atmosphere that is rich with supportive information about the benefits of our cuisine.

Tierra Sana is neighborhood café and juice lounge Queens. We are committed to making healthy eating easy for people: supporting them in living long, youthful, energetic and fulfilling lives…we believe that healthy, happy people make for a healthy, happy planet.

We are also looking for a bookeeper-clerk that speak Spanish and English.
Please write or call Stephanie Fiallo:
Stephanie.fiallo@hotmail.com
917 319 3214

Is Croatia the Next Chile?

One of the few local events in Forest Hills that has a Balkan edge. Apparently from out of the rubble comes wine worth discussing and tasting.

WINE TASTING

Friday, February 29th
“Introducing wines from Croatia”
5:00-8:00 p.m.

The Wine Room of Forest Hills / 96-09 69 Avenue
718.520.1777
Between Groton & Harrow Streets

in Rovigno, Istria, Croatia

Y Hosts Speaker/Writer on Breast Cancer

This Sunday, Ruth Peltason will speak on her new book, I Am Not My Breast Cancer. Cosponsored by SHARE and Cancercare, The Y has planned this event with cancer patients and their friends and family in mind. Information will be available about local SHARE and Cancercare support groups.

Ruth Peltason was thirty-five when she was first diagnosed with breast cancer and in her late 40s when it returned. With a diagnosis that can be devastating, Peltason created an online community where women could talk about their deepest fears and share their feelings.

In her new book, Peltason weaves together women’s voices to create a guide for others, written with by ordinary women who have been there before. They talk about love & sex, hair loss & weight gain, being a mother and a daughter with cancer, and their voices are honest, spirited, and sometimes funny. Ruth Peltason is also co-author of Breast Cancer: The Complete Guide.

Central Queens YM & YWHA in Forest Hills
Sunday, March 2, at 10 a.m
$4 in advance and $6 at the door (includes a light breakfast)
718-268-5011, ext. 151, or email pkurtz@cqyjcc.org

Get It While It Lasts

Ethan Allen will close on/around March 15. Their last delivery came in today, so they’ve actually got merchandise if you need it. No word yet on who/what will be in its stead.

Chi-chi Tofu

Who knew? Sakura-ya, the tiny Japanese market on Austin-by-Ascan, carries the Cadillac of tofu, a product called Kaze ni Fukarete Tofu-ya Johnny, which translates as “Johnny the tofu maker blown by the wind.”

You can read all about it, including its intriguing name and why it costs $4.99 for 8.5 ounces, on Gothamist’s At the Ethnic Market post today. Have I told you lately how much I love the Gothamist, all the more so because they give our ethnic markets the time of day they so deserve?

And Sakura-ya…well, even though there isn’t a label in the entire store that I can read, let alone understand, I love the place for its mystery factor. Last week I bought something off-white and gelatinous there that tasted good but I’ll be damned if I know what it is. And in response to my question about how a store like this can thrive in a neighborhood like Forest Hills, which doesn’t seem to have a huge Japanese community, the owner told me that there are indeed many Japanese families in the area, and that Sakura-ya also attracts people from all over Queens—an ethnic market and a niche market all in one.

Humor

Well, the 7, 543th Democratic debate is underway, and we probably could all use a jolt of humor(?) to get through it and the next week.

Pink Gives Me the Blues

Perhaps you saw that Forest Hill’s JeongMee Yoon was profiled in last weekend’s New York Times for her photo show “The Pink and Blue Project,” which will be showing March 3 to April 26 at the Jenkins Johnson Gallery in Chelsea. It’s a great review, and her photographs will indeed elicit a smile.

The inspiration for JeongMee Yoon’s photographic project was her 5-year-old daughter, Seowoo, who loved things pink. As a setting for a portrait, Ms. Yoon assembled all of her daughter’s pink possessions — stuffed animals, dolls, plastic toys, books, clothes, jewelry, makeup and school supplies — into an orderly display. Seowoo’s bedroom was transformed into a pink kingdom for a child queen….

The themes of gender difference and compulsive shopping scream out from these portraits, but more subtle themes are also apparent. The children, both Asian and non-Asian, collect toys that are both Asian and non-Asian: “Hello Kitty” and anime action figures appear as often as Barbie and Superman. Mass-produced items sit beside family keepsakes — the traditional Korean dress called the hanbok or a hand-me-down, smocked party dress.

Children of all ages are hooked on pink and blue, a trend ensured by parents who begin collecting for sons and daughters when they are infants. The project touches raw cultural nerves while delighting the eye and coercing a smile.

I have to admit, though, that I am concerned about what is going on in little Seowoo’s bedroom, and all the kids who potentially could fill a room like this. They deserve better than a monochromatic childhood, and really, it’s such an easy fix. My recommendation is that parents with this problem should refer to the vast array of Pantone colors, many of which play nicely for both teams. Start by admitting your fear of other colors, which by now has been transferred to your child. Here’s a little mantra to begin the process of color-conversion therapy: All kids look good in all blues, yellows, greens, and browns, and even some shades of pink and purple.

Remember: the first step is the hardest.

Attn. Musicians: The Hills Are Alive…

The 2nd annual Make Music New York (MMNY), which last year brought music to Forest Hills on Continental Ave., will be held on June 21:

For one day a year—the first day of summer—public spaces in all five boroughs become informal musical stages for all New Yorkers, amateurs and professionals, to perform for friends, neighbors, and passers-by, turning the city into a festival of live music making.

[About MMNY's Site]

If you’re a musician looking for a place to play—or if you have a garden, block party, sidewalk, or other outdoor space on June 21st and want musicians—you’ll be able to sign up, get in touch with possible matches, and find what you’re looking for. (Think of it as an internet dating site to create concerts.)

If you have your concert plans figured out already, with a musician and location already matched up, that’s great, too! Sign up on the same site to take part in MMNY 2008—the website will explain how.

For those interested in performing or otherwise being part of this event, check out the Web site.